Larry Ratliff

Yo, Stallone/'Rambo' plead the fifth

 

Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo hasn't forgotten how to rumble in the jungle.  (Lionsgate)

Some movie hunks just can't put the bandanna behind them.

According to an article posted on the Variety Web site, Sylvester Stallone is ready to jump back into the war weary John Rambo role for a fifth cinematic mission.

"Nu Image/Millennium Films has greenlit the franchise's fifth installment, with Sylvester Stallone starring and directing, repeating his duties from 2008's 'Rambo.'

"The upcoming project's storyline revolves around Rambo fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border. Production will start in the spring," the Variety article states.

Rambo's still lagging behind Stallone's rocky "Rocky" franchise.  Stallone, now 63, has been in the cinematic ring six times as gritty Rocky Balboa.

Horror, Woodstock or 'Basterds,' oh my

Hold your cards, letters, e-mail, instant messages, texts and Tweets, I'm well aware that "Inglourious Basterds" opened last weekend.

It remains the best movie choice, however, so I feel good about doing the little I can to get you into a theater to see it if you haven't already.  Click here for the review.

Ang Lee's Woodstock redux "Taking Woodstock" is my best suggestion among this weekend's openers.  Just don't expect to experience the concert itself.  Click here for the full review or go to this site's Movie Reviews page.

Vampire fans might want to try "Thirst," Chan-wook Park's thriller about a priest who chooses the wrong medical experiment to sigh up for.  Click here for the review, or hop over to the Movie Reviews page.

If you're in the Dallas area (or others -- check local listings), outstanding actor Paul Giamatti loses his soul in "Cold Souls."  Click here for the review.

And, of course, if you simply must see every horror flick that falls off the Hollywood truck, "The Final Destination" serves up slaughter in 3-D, while Rob Zombie's "Halloween II" remake offers slice-and-dice  the old fashioned, flat-screen way. 

Big names, busted audition moments

 

Mike Meyers at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of "Inglourious Basterds" in May. 

(Courtesy:  Photo Agency)

Auditions, or even trying to impress a new acquaintance for the first time can be stressful.

My wife Suellen says I freeze when I'm trying to order something at the fast food drive-through speaker.  I don't, really.  I just cannot speak the language, which I can best describe as static-echo.

It might make us all feel better to know that some of the biggest names in the movie business have blown first auditions.  Names like Susan Sarandon and Dustin Hoffman pop up in an article posted on line at CNN.com.

My personal favorite is Mike Meyers.  The former "Saturday Night Live" cast member who has found tremendous success on the big screen as "Austin Powers" and the voice of "Shrek" says he used to get a little creative during auditions when he didn't like the project.

"'I've had some bad auditions for some TV movies that were shooting in England where I just didn't want to be in them and offered them more obtuse [performances] ... I like to think of it as performance art. I didn't sabotage it, I was just woefully inappropriate, you know? I just thought, 'Why not be nude even if it is a children's theatre?,'" Meyers says in the CNN article.

Click here to discover how things went for Sarandon, Hoffman, Eli Roth on "Inglourious Basterds," Demi Moore and more.

Tarantino masters pulp fiction, revisionist WW II

  

Eli Roth, left, and Brad Pitt invade France in "Inglourious Basterds." (The Weinstein Co.)

If you visit this Web space with any regularity, you probably know by now how much I admire Quentin Tarantino's World War II revenge fable "Inglourious Basterds."

Two hours and a-half have never flown by so fast for me in a movie theater.  I'll save most of my gushing (which I don't do often) for the full review.  It's on the Movie Reviews page.

I wish I could also recommend Robert Rodriguez's new gadget-filled kiddie comedy "Shorts."  Sadly, I cannot.  Look for the "Shorts" review on the Movie Reviews page as well. 

You'll also find the review for "Post Grad," a flawed romantic-comedy starring Alexis Bledel, as well as the sputtering (but interesting) bromance comedy "Humpday," which opens in San Antonio today.

If I could see just one film this weekend, or maybe even for the next six weeks or so, it would be Tarantino's love letter to cinema played out in Occupied France.

Tarantino, 'Basterds' occupy France

 

(The Weinstein Co.)

"Inglourious Basterds," Quentin Tarantino's pulp-fictiony World War II fable set in Occupied France, occupied France beginning Wednesday.

We'll have to wait until Friday to see Brad Pitt lead The Basterds, a scalp-happy group of Nazi-killing U.S. soldiers operating behind enemy lines.  The international roll-out has already begun, however.

Before I roll into movie industry info, let me just say this:  DON'T MISS THIS ONE!

Tarantino may be a strange duck in some ways.  There have been rumors of a foot fetish (Caution:  adult material in links) floating around, for instance.

When it comes to making movies, though, the guy who brought us "Pulp Fiction," two "Kill Bills" and half a "Grindhouse," the guy whose love for making movies is surpassed only by his love for them has got, in my humble opinion, a masterpiece on his hands this time.

Now for the industry info:  A story by Pamela McClintock posted on the Variety Web site says that at least two movie distributors have a lot riding on Tarantino's unorthodox World War II revenge war drama with comic relief.

"'Basterds' opens in the U.S. on Friday while it continues its expansion overseas into numerous major markets.

"Amid all the hubbub over whether 'Basterds' will help shore up the Weinstein Co., Universal Pictures' stake in the film has been obscured.

"Universal co-produced the pic and is distributing internationally. Like the Weinstein Co., U could use a hit after a dismal summer," the article says. 

Third time the, uh, charm for Penn-Wright split?

Sean and Robin Wright Penn  (Courtesy:  babble.com) 

Why can't Sean Penn and Dallas-born wife Robin Wright Penn just get along . . . or just get on with the divorce?

That may finally be happening.

An article on the CNN Web site reports that Robin Wright Penn has filed for divorce from two-time Oscar-winner Sean ("Milk," "Mystic River").

I often lose count on celebrity dust-ups like this, but I think this is the third time one or the other has climbed courthouse steps to end the marital union.

"The papers, filed in Marin County, California, on August 12, state that 'both parties have already agreed to [shared] custody' over their minor son, Hopper Jack, 16, and that 'the estranged couple have already agreed to division of all property,'" the article says.

Click here to read the CNN Web post.

Oops, Web site for high-tech 'Avatar' crashes

 

(Courtesy:  20th Century Fox)

I suppose we can relate it to James Cameron's "Titanic" hitting a little iceberg.

Cameron, you see (and may already know), has this huge state-of-the-high-tech-art sci-fi movie titled "Avatar" coming out Dec. 18.

It will surely be a genuine movie event, since "Avatar" will be Cameron's first narrative feature since "Titanic" in 1997.  It's such a big deal, in fact, that Friday (Aug. 21) has been declared "Avatar Day" by 20th Century Fox.

Fox is releasing the cutting-edge sci-fi tale of "a reluctant hero who embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization."

Methinks Fox has every right to tout Cameron's latest.  After all, according to a post on the Hollywood Reporter Web site, the studio has put the budget at $237 million.

That makes Monday's crash of the "Avatar" Web site, where the curious converged in hopes of securing free seats to Friday's 16-minutes of 3-D preview footage, a little embarrassing.

"Ticket ordering was scheduled to begin on-line at noon PDT, but at about 11:55 a.m., the site started experiencing difficulties. About 17,000 of the 68,000 available tickets were distributed before the heavy traffic forced the site down for several hours," the Hollywood Reporter post said, and added:

"'Due to the overwhelming response for tickets to the 'Avatar' event on 8/21, our servers have crashed. We will update you as soon as possible,' ticket seekers were advised by 'Avatar's' Twitter site."

By the way, if you're looking for tickets in Texas, forget it.  All Texas sites are already sold out.

That's bad news for those left without tickets, of course.  But good news for Fox and Mr. Cameron.

At least they're righted the "Avatar" Web site ship.
 

Robert Rodriguez, the movie multitasker

 

 

Robert Rodriguez on the Austin set with "Shorts" co-stars Jimmy Bennett and Jolie Vanier.  (Warner Bros.)

Where does the San Antonio-raised, Austin-based filmmaker find the time?

Robert Rodriguez, who sold himself for 7,000 bucks as a human medical lab rat to get his film career off the ground, is juggling a handful of movie projects these days.

Yet he still found -- or at least took -- the time to travel to Hollywood recently to talk to film journalists about "Shorts," his new adventure for kids, and his packed production schedule.

I caught up with the personable director of "El Mariachi," "Desperado," "Spy Kids" and co-director of "Sin City" and "Grindhouse" in a plush Los Angeles hotel.

Click here to read my interview that ran in the Austin American-Statesman over the weekend.

You'll discover the mind-boggling cast that has joined Danny Trejo in "Machete."  You'll also learn when Rodriguez's "Predators" sequel will begin its shooting schedule and what, if anything, is going on with the much talked about "Sin City" sequel.

Heath Ledger's final film headed to U.S.

 

 

The late Heath Ledger in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus."  (Courtesy:  Comingsoon.net)

There's good news today for fans of the late Heath Ledger.

Sony appears to be in final talks to distribute Ledger's final film, Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which Ledger was filming at the time of his death in Jan., 2008.

The film wasn't complete at the time of Ledger's death.  So with a little screen magic and the help of Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who stepped in for their departed friend in fantasy segments, Gilliam got his film done.

No deal was made when "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Fest in May.  According to an item posted on the Variety Web site, however, the deal may be getting done.

"Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group is in advanced talks to pick up 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,' with plans for it to go out theatrically, likely this year, via Sony Pictures Classics," the article says.

'Grindhouse' buds to compete for B.O.

 

 

Quentin Tarantino on the set of "Inglourious Basterds."  (The Weinstein Company)

Film-making compadres Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, collaborators on the "Grindhouse" double feature in 2007 and other projects, go head-to-head at the box office on Aug. 21.

Tarantino continues his hard-hitting, bombastic ways with "Inglourious Basterds," a pulp fiction World War II fable starring Brad Pitt, Austrian actor Christoph Waltz (who is off-the-chart sensational) and Diane Kruger.

 

"Shorts" director Robert Rodriguez and boys (left to right) Racer, Rebel and Rocket. 

(Robert Rodriguez/Warner Bros.)

Rodriguez, born in San Antonio, but Austin-based these days, is in his alternate goofy kiddie flick mode.  He'll light up screens with "Shorts," a wild fantasy adventure about a rainbow rock from the sky that grants wishes, a cast dotted with Rodriguezes and (get ready to go, "Oooooooooh!") perhaps the first giant computer-generated booger in cinematic history.  ("Ooooh," right?)

I interviewed both Rodriguez, the dedicated dad, and Tarantino, the extremely driven near-creative genius, over the weekend in Los Angeles.

You'll have a chance to read much more about these gifted film-making buds who'll go up against each other on screen in this space in the next couple of weeks. 

I'm just not sure which film I need to advise you to brace yourself for more.  Tarantino turns World War II and conventional film-making on its head in "Inglourious Basterds," which is misspelled on purpose.

Rodriguez, however, is bold enough to go with the nasal mucus blob, which -- as you will learn in further dispatches -- he did fret about before blowing it out there on a movie screen, so to speak.